The Fields of Trenzalore
by powerstaark
Summary: The Doctor finds the third version of Clara and takes her with him but quickly finds out that the Silence are not finished with him yet. And they aren't even the most dangerous threat he and Clara must face. An old enemy has been waiting for both of them for a long time; the true leader of the Silence who also knows how Clara keeps coming back from the dead...
1. Chapter 1

It was an Sunday afternoon. A small, slender, beautiful young woman with long dark brown hair was sitting in her late grandmothers arm chair, reading a book when she heard a strange grinding sound. She lowered her book and looked around as the sound grew louder. Then it stopped. Suspicious, the woman put down her book and got to her feet, grabbing a poker from the fireplace as she faced the door. There were hurried footsteps on the other side.

"Clara Oswin Oswald!" bellowed a man with a bowtie, bursting into the young woman's sitting room. Clara held up the poker threateningly and the man hastily pulled away putting up his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Who the hell are you?" Clara asked suspiciously, "What are you doing in my flat?"

"Oh, right you don't remember me," the man said cheerfully, "No surprise; last time we met was another lifetime; literally."

"Get out!" Clara shouted, "Get out now you lunatic!"

"Oi," the man said indignantly, "I prefer the word madman. Lunatic sounds too...loony." Clara swung the poker at him and he dodged back out of range, "Still as fiery as ever I see," he said dancing around the sofa as Clara stalked after him, "I'm not sure how you keep coming back to life but it's nice to know you come back as the same person. Sometimes I wish I could do that. Regeneration is so unpredictable."

"What are you jabbering about?" Clara said, "And who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor," said the man happily.

"Doctor Who?" Clara asked and the Doctor beamed.

"You asked me that last time," he said, "It's a dangerous question."

"Why?" asked Clara.

"Oldest question in the Universe," the Doctor said cheerfully, "You don't know how much power a name can have."

"So enlighten me," Clara said.

"No can do," the Doctor replied, "Haven't gotten to the Fields of Trenzalore yet."

"What's Trenzalore?" asked Clara.

"Dunno," the Doctor replied, "Never been there. But hopefully you'll be there when I do."

"Why would I come with you?" asked Clara, "You just burst into my sitting room. For all I know you could be a rapist, a murderer or even a serial killer."

"Well if I was I would have attacked you by now," the Doctor said.

"Not unless you want me to smash your head in," Clara retorted. The Doctor smiled and whipped out a device that looked like a metal wand. The end glowed green and Clara felt an electrical shock go through her hand. She dropped the poker with a yelp of surprise.

"Humans have electricity in their bodies," the Doctor said, "My Sonic Screwdriver can channel that electricity into one area to give you a mild electric shock." He put away the Sonic Screwdriver and sat on the sofa as though he owned the place, "Now maybe we can talk." Clara hesitated then sat down in the armchair opposite him.

"Why are you here?" she said, "What do you want from me?"

"I've been lonely," the Doctor said, his cheerful demeanour changing to sadness very quickly, "Lost my mother and father in laws over a decade ago; been living on my own ever since. Then I met a past version of you and we had a great adventure. Unfortunately you died at the end of it."

"You said I keep coming back to life," Clara said, "How is that possible?"

"Well I've got an immortal friend," the Doctor said, "But his method of resurrection is different from yours; he just wakes up gasping for air. You however end up in a different time period. Tell me do you remember anything about Victorian London?"

"No," Clara said, "I've never been there."

"Yeah you have," the Doctor said, "Just not this version of you. Somehow you've been split across time and space; you live in different time periods in different parts of the Universe but you have no memories of your previous lives. And then somehow we keep meeting; I've already met two versions of you, one in the past and one in the future." Clara was fascinated, albeit sceptical.

"This is crazy," she said shaking her head, "How can I be split across time and space?"

"I don't know," the Doctor admitted, "But I have seen something like this before, a very long time ago. As far as I know it's never happened to a Human before though. I was a different man last time I saw a creature split through the Universe." He grinned and jumped to his feet, "Come with me, I've got something to show you." Clara got to her feet but hesitated. The Doctor hurried to the doorway and looked back at her, "Clara I'm not going to hurt you. The past version of you wasn't this wary, although come to think of it the future version of you was." Clara's curiosity got the better of her and she followed the Doctor out of the room.

In the kitchen there stood a blue police box. The Doctor strode towards it and leaned against it. Clara stared at the police box.

"What is this?" she said.

"It's called the TARDIS," the Doctor said, "That means Time And Relative Dimension In Space. Let me show you around." He snapped his fingers and the doors opened. Clara stepped hesitantly towards it.

"It looks a bit cramped," she said.

"Just wait till you get inside," the Doctor grinned at her and despite herself Clara couldn't resist smiling back. She stepped into the TARDIS.

"Oh. My. God." She said staring around the control room, "But how can...? This is impossible!" The Doctor appeared behind her.

"This is my home," he said, "and my only constant companion. Trouble is she's not very good at conversations. No offence dear." The TARDIS made a noise that somehow seemed mildly annoyed.

"But it's..." Clara darted outside and stared at the box which had managed to squeeze itself into her kitchen, "It's smaller on the outside."

"Yep," the Doctor said happily. Then they heard a door opening.

"Clara!" called a voice, "I'm home!"

"Oh that's Nina," said Clara, "My partner." She looked at the Doctor defiantly as she said the word "partner" but he merely smiled. Clara hurried out of the TARDIS. The Doctor followed. "Hello dear," Clara said hugging a dark skinned woman, a year or so older than her and then kissing her affectionately.

"Who on earth is this?" said Nina looking suspiciously at the Doctor and holding Clara in a rather protective way.

"I'm the Doctor," the Doctor said happily, "I'm a friend of Clara's. Or at least I was a friend of a past version of her, and a future version. Loads of timey-wimey stuff; very complicated." Nina was gaping at him.

"How did you get that in our kitchen?" she said pointing to the TARDIS, deciding not to ask about the timey-wimey stuff.

"Piloted her," the Doctor said, "This is one of my wives." He patted the TARDIS fondly, "My other wife is probably off studying archaeology somewhere; haven't seen her for a while now." There was a hint of resentment in his voice.

"You're married to a blue box?" Nina said sceptically.

"Come and look inside," Clara said and pulled her partner into the box. The Doctor peered in, grinning as Nina stared at the TARDIS control room.

"It's bigger on the inside!" Nina said.

"You know Clara said it's smaller on the outside," the Doctor said, "Much more original. So," he bounded in after the two young women, "Want to take her for a spin? She hasn't been getting much exercise recently have you old girl? I'm surprised I was able to find you so easily Clara."

"Clara I think we should leave," Nina said, "This guy's clearly insane."

"Nothing wrong with insane," the Doctor said.

"Insane people can be murderers," Nina said.

"No, that's evil people," the Doctor corrected her, "There's a difference between being insane and being evil." Suddenly the TARDIS groaned, "Whoa, what is it dear? What's wrong?" The TARDIS made another groaning sound, "Something's interfering with her telepathic matrix," the Doctor said, "That's not good. The last thing I want is for our telepathic connection to sever."

"What connection?" asked Clara.

"I'm bonded to my time machine," the Doctor explained messing with the controls, "Powerful telepathic connection; that's how I was able to open her just by snapping my fingers. Now someone, or something, is trying to sever the connection."

"Doctor!" bellowed a voice and the Doctor spun around.

"No, no, no, no, no!" he yelled and charged towards the door's slamming them both shut, "Impossible, I wiped myself from the Universe. Unless...Oh stupid me...In their timeline this happens before Lake Silencio. Probably before the Big Bang too."

"What are you talking about? What or who are they?" asked Clara. The Doctor looked at her with a grim expression.

"The Silence," he said.


	2. Chapter 2

"These are not the Silence I've encountered before," the Doctor said darting around the consol, "This is before they started the religious order; they're unorganised and that gives us the advantage. Didn't know they could time travel but maybe they fell through a rift or something; some rifts, like the one in Cardiff, can take you anywhere and any when."

"So what are you doing?" asked Clara, interrupting his rambling.

"The Silent's are trying to cut off my connection to the TARDIS," the Doctor said, "Maybe I can use that against them, if I can just figure out how to block and reverse the psychic jamming signal." He looked at the computer screen. Clara hurried towards him.

"Psychic jamming signal?" she said.

"Yeah," the Doctor said, "I never knew they even had this ability. Course remembering the creatures themselves is virtually impossible but I've learned a lot about their organisation and telepathy was never mentioned. So maybe... Aha!" He snapped his fingers, "Their telepathic abilities get crippled permanently. But how do I do that?"

"How powerful is your telepathic bond with this thing?" Clara asked, ignoring the sound of the Silence trying to smash their way inside the TARDIS.

"Pretty powerful. Why?" the Doctor replied.

"You said we need to cripple their telepathic powers," Clara said, "So what if we all combined our minds with your machine? Is there any way you can get us to link to the TARDIS the way you do?"

"You're already linked," the Doctor said, "But the link's not strong enough. There's only one way I know to make it stronger but if that happens it could destroy all of our cellular structures. But if we can shield ourselves and just absorb enough of it to defeat the Silence...it might work. Wait here!" he charged out of the room and returned a moment later with something that looked suspiciously like a grenade. "Force field," he said, "We can stay connected to the TARDIS but won't absorb all the Time Vortex if we do, as long as you stay inside it. Listen when the Silence break in, you will get the urge to kill all of them on sight. _Do not _give into that urge because if you leave the force field you'll die." He tossed the grenade to the ground. Nina flinched but Clara simply looked at the device curiously. "Clara, we need to open this hatch," the Doctor pointed to the hatch that contained the Heart of the TARDIS, "Do you think you can hack into it?"

"Are you sure you want me to hack into your time machine?" she said.

"Well I don't think she'll let me see her lady parts," the Doctor said, "But you know what they say; all girls together. Besides she likes you; she has done ever since the Victorian version of you stepped inside her."

"You know I'm bisexual right?" Clara said.

"I can vouch for that," Nina piped up.

"Oh, just convince her to open up!" the Doctor said in irritation, "You've been able to hack into the path web of the Daleks before; this can't be much more difficult. Admittedly that time was different considering..." he stopped, not wanting to say that in one of her lives, Clara had actually been turned into a Dalek.

Then the doors smashed down as the tall, humanoid Silence stepped inside.

"Oi!" the Doctor yelled as a red force field sprang up around him, Clara and Nina, "The TARDIS spent a lot of time redecorating and you just had to ruin her work!"

"You are the Doctor," the lead Silent said, "The Last Child of Gallifrey, The Destroyer of Worlds, The Man Who Will Bring the Silence."

"You know you lot have tried to assassinate me before and you were a lot better at it last time I faced you," the Doctor said, "This time you're literally just smashing into my TARDIS. Where's the fun in that! Oh and it's also very bad manners; you should have waited for someone to answer the door."

"We need to kill these things," Nina said, under the effects of the post hypnotic suggestion to kill the Silence on sight. Despite the post hypnotic suggestion, the Doctor's warning combined with Nina's naturally cautious personality and common sense prevented her from simply trying to rip the Silence apart with her bare hands. Clara was still at the keyboard, seeming oblivious to the Silence since she'd forgotten they were there and was too focussed on hacking into the TARDIS to really pay attention to what the Doctor was saying.

"We will," the Doctor said, "Alright dear, let 'em have, it!" The TARDIS made an affirmative response as Clara hit the Enter key and the Heart of the TARDIS burst open. Golden light exploded out, swirling around the force field. Clara stared in wonder while Nina took her hand and watched the golden light warily.

"The Time Vortex!" the lead Silent stepped back in horror, "You are unleashing the Time Vortex!"

"Yes," the Doctor said, "So say goodbye to your cellular structures. And for good measure, the rest of your species can say goodbye to their telepathic powers." He closed his eyes and linked to the TARDIS. Clara closed her eyes and felt the sentient Time Machine's mind swirling around her. Linking to her was surprisingly easy; it was as though she had been in the TARDIS before, which, in a way, she had.

Clara gasped as she felt the Time Vortex's energy flow into her head. Then she felt the Doctor's mind brush against her own.

"_Normally this would be fatal for a Human,_" he said, "_But once the force field goes down, it will suck the vortex energy into the device. Just concentrate on the Silence!_" Clara heard deep bellows of agony inside her head as the Silence felt their telepathic connections being severed. Not only was it happening in the present, but also the past and the future too. She felt a little bit of pity towards them. Their telepathic connections to each other were not just being severed; they never even existed and the Silent's were clearly in a great deal of pain as an ability that they used to, and at the same time never had, possessed, was erased. The Doctor's telepathic voice sounded inside her head again, "_Time is being rewritten Clara; the entire biological history of the Silence is being rewritten._"

The Heart of the TARDIS absorbed the Time Vortex's energy back into it and the force field went down, taking the energy that had been inside the Doctor, Clara and Nina into it. Clara and Nina both staggered, disorientated and unable to remember the experience that had happened to them only seconds earlier. The Doctor grabbed the grenade like device that had formed the barrier and hurled it into the Heart of his Time Machine just before the hatch slammed shut. Then the lead Silent, who was still in the doorway of the TARDIS and whose legs were turning to dust and then atoms before Clara and Nina's eyes, managed to unleash a blast of electricity towards the Doctor's unprotected back.

Nina, in an act of bravery that she hadn't even known she was capable of, threw herself between the electricity and the Time Lord and it hit her full in the chest. Since the Silent was dying it wasn't enough to turn her into ash but it was still a fatal attack. Nina collapsed and the Doctor spun around, just in time to see the Silent, glaring at him with an expression of hatred. Then the Silent turned into dust, then atoms, and then nothing as the Time Vortex eliminated all the cells in its body.

"Nina!" screamed Clara collapsing beside the other woman. The Doctor hastily scanned the dark skinned girl with his Sonic Screwdriver.

"Why did you do that?" he said.

"I dunno," Nina said weakly, "I was being crazy; I don't even know you."

"No, you were being Human," the Doctor said, "That's something I've always admired about your species; you're willing to sacrifice yourselves."

"Is there something you can do?" asked Clara desperately. The Doctor checked his Screwdriver.

"I'm sorry," he said, "The Silent may have been dying but it still had enough strength to unleash that fatal blast. Her body's shutting down."

"No," moaned Clara, "You're the Doctor; there must be something you can do." The Doctor knelt down beside her.

"The shock was too powerful," he said, "At least you can say goodbye; normally a blast from those creatures would turn its victim into ashes."

"Clara," gasped Nina and the smaller girl leaned closer, "Move on...be happy...but don't forget me."

"Never could," Clara said tears falling down her cheeks. Nina tried to say something else but then her heart stopped. Her eyes were still open and she was staring up at Clara but could no longer see. Clara closed Nina's eyes and then leaned down and kissed her, "I love you too Nina," she said, having guessed what she had wanted to say. Then she pressed her forehead to Nina's as she cried.


	3. Chapter 3

Clara sat on the TARDIS steps staring at Nina's body. The Doctor was going to take her to a church where they could arrange her funeral, but at the moment he was fixing the doors of the TARDIS. The Time Machine could regenerate her insides at will but the doors had to actually be manually put back into place when they were smashed off.

The Time Lord looked down at the girl as he worked; she looked the same way he had felt when he lost Amy and Rory. He finished the hinges of the TARDIS doors and swung them open and then closed again, making sure they were secure; if they opened or broke while he and Clara were in the Time Vortex then Clara would die (again) and he would have to regenerate. The TARDIS made a purring sound, assuring him that the doors were fixed. The Doctor went around the controls, setting a course for the nearest church. Then he went over to Clara.

"I'm sorry," he said, sitting beside her as the TARDIS took off, "In one of your other lives you implied she was important to you." Clara looked at him.

"So I really won't forget her, even when I get reborn?" she asked.

"If I have to, I'll implant memories of her into your mind," the Doctor promised, "Although I can't promise that you're other incarnations will feel the same as the one you're in now."

"Is there any way she can be reborn?" Clara asked.

"No," the Doctor said, "You're an impossible thing Clara. I don't even yet know how you were splintered across the Universe. But I know that Nina wasn't. You're the only Human I've ever known or heard about who's been split through time." The TARDIS landed and the Doctor kissed Clara on the forehead, "Come on," he said and picked up Nina's body before carrying her out of the TARDIS.

* * *

Clara insisted on going to Nina's funeral. The Doctor hated funerals but the girl was very persuasive. So he stood, in his tuxedo and bow tie, beside the devastated Clara as they stood over her partner's grave. It was a small funeral, nothing fancy but Clara knew Nina would have wanted her to go to it.

After the funeral the Doctor took Clara back to the TARDIS. He turned to her.

"Do you want to go home?" he asked, "Have some time to recover? I needed over a decade to recover from the deaths of my mother and father in laws."

"No," Clara said, "Nina said move on, and that's exactly what I'm going to do. She wouldn't want me to wallow in self pity. So I'm gonna come with you."

"You're running away with a spaceman in a box," the Doctor warned, "Anything could happen to you." Clara shrugged.

"That's what I'm counting on," she said.

"Okay," the Doctor said darting around the consol, "Where do you want to go? What do you want to see?" Clara smiled and shrugged.

"The stars," she said simply.

"Right," he said, "One great big star coming up!" he messed around with the controls and Clara stepped forwards.

"I remember trying to hack into the TARDIS," she said, "The next thing I remember was Nina dying. What happened in between?"

"You opened the Heart of the TARDIS," the Doctor said, "Only one other Human being has ever done that before and I'm pretty sure she didn't do it by hacking into it. She was bright but not that bright. You really are something special Clara; I doubt even River could get into the Heart of the TARDIS the way you did."

"Oh you're flattering me," Clara said.

"Yes I am," agreed the Doctor, "But I'm being serious; even I can't hack into the Heart of the TARDIS," he pulled a lever, "Right then; let's go see that star!"

The TARDIS materialised in the middle of space, floating peacefully next to a massive ball of fire. The Doctor hurried to the doors and flung them open.

"There you go!" he announced, "One big blazing star right on our doorstep!" Clara peered out at the star and grinned then stepped to the door.

"How is the vacuum of space not killing us?" she asked.

"Well my species can survive in space for a short time," said the Doctor, "But for Humans I extend the air bubble around the TARDIS; keeps the air in and the vacuum out," he looked at Clara, "Want to go outside?"

"Are you sure it's safe?" Clara asked.

"Course I'm sure," the Doctor said, "I'll hold onto you." He took her hand and guided her out of the door. Clara had a sudden feeling of weightlessness and started floating. "I'm going to grab your leg now," the Doctor said and reached out with his left hand, gripping her ankle and then letting go of her hand. Clara floated in space and laughed in wonder, spreading her arms. The Doctor smiled but couldn't help feeling a bit sad. This was the first thing he had done with Amy three centuries ago when he had first taken her into outer space.

"Do you do this a lot?" Clara asked.

"Didn't make a habit of it until I regenerated actually," the Doctor said. Clara looked back at him.

"What species are you?" she said.

"Time Lord," the Doctor said, "Very ancient species; we can live for centuries and regenerate when we die, unless we're killed before we have a chance to regenerate."

"I'd like to come inside now," Clara said, still looking at the star then she gasped, "Oh look, a solar flare!"

"That star will turn into a black hole one day," said the Doctor pulling her back into the TARDIS, "A few million years this space will be a massive deadly hole."

"That's comforting," said Clara sarcastically, "Is it true that black holes can go to another Universe?"

"One in every five hundred can, but the rest will just kill you if you go into it," said the Doctor.

"Can we go to another Universe?" Clara asked excitedly.

"No," said the Doctor, "The chances of me finding the right black hole are too slim; even when I was younger and more reckless I wasn't foolish enough to mess with a black hole. Besides who needs another Universe when we've got this one? Although come to think of it this Universe is, in my experience, bloody ungrateful."

"What makes you say that?" asked Clara.

"I've saved the Universe more times than I can remember and it gives me pain and suffering in return," the Doctor grumbled.

"Well...it also gave you me. And according to you, I'm not the only version of me," Clara pointed out. The Time Lord's expression softened.

"Yeah," he said, "A friend of mine said that the Universe doesn't make bargains but maybe she was wrong. I'm glad I met you Clara." He kissed her on the forehead, something that she quickly guessed was a habit he used when displaying affection, and then closed the doors to the TARDIS and headed back to the consol.

**I like reviews. Sometimes I wonder why other writers can get loads of reviews for just one chapter. In this story I've only got one review for two chapters, three if you include this one. Fortunately I like writing stories but it still would be nice to know if people like them. If they dislike them, obviously that's not so nice.**


	4. Chapter 4

"Doctor!" called Clara wandering through the long halls of the TARDIS, "Doctor where are, you?" she looked around examining a few of the doors she passed. She had been living in the TARDIS for two months now, but the Time Machine seemed to like making her get lost. The Doctor had told her that the TARDIS was constantly changing, rebuilding rooms and corridors, "Oh come on," Clara said to the Time Machine, "You do this just to annoy me don't you?"

Suddenly the door to her right swung open by itself. Clara stepped through, wondering if the TARDIS was playing another trick on her. To her surprise she found herself in a vast library, which she hadn't been to before. She looked around at all the books which were set on rows of wooden shelves. Then she heard a sound and the Doctor appeared from behind one of the shelves, smiling but without his usual enthusiasm.

"You should see the biggest Library in the Universe," he said, "Actually no you shouldn't since it's infested with Vashta Nerada."

"What are they?" asked Clara, noticing that the Doctor didn't seem as cheerful as he usually did. This had happened a few times; he had disappeared into the depths of the TARDIS and she hadn't been able to find him for hours and then he would come bounding back to the control room and they would fly away again.

"Living shadows that feast on flesh," the Doctor said. Clara noticed he was holding something under his arm.

"What's that?" she asked. The Doctor looked down.

"Nothing," he said, putting it onto a shelf with the kind of care that told Clara that it was important to him, "Come on; the Universe is massive. I've barely begun to show it to you." Clara stepped around him towards the object which was a photograph in a wooden frame, "Clara let's go!" the Doctor said sharply; there was an edge in his voice that the young woman had never heard before.

"Who are these people Doctor?" she asked holding up the photo. It showed the Time Lord standing between a red haired woman and a man with a large nose. The Doctor has one arm around each of them and all three of them were beaming at the camera. The Doctor looked at the photo and sighed.

"Amy and Rory;" he said, "my previous companions."

"They look lovely," said Clara.

"They were," said the Doctor, "But then that damn Weeping Angel took them from me!" Clara looked up at him.

"Weeping Angel?" she said.

"One of the worst things in the Universe;" the Doctor said, "Living statues that move whenever you're not looking at them. They can send people back in time and feed off their Time Energy. They did that to Amy and Rory."

"So?" Clara asked, "Why don't you just go back in time and fetch them?"

"Don't you think that if I could go back for them I would!?" snapped the Doctor, "They've been Time Locked; I can never see them again!"

"I'm sorry," said Clara sadly.

"Just give me that," the Doctor snatched the photo from her and stormed out of the room. Clara hurried into the corridor after him.

"Where are you going?" she called.

"I need some time alone," said the Doctor.

"Maybe I can help," Clara ran to the Time Lord. The Doctor snorted.

"Sure," he said, "If you can find a way to breach such a vast web of Time Distortions that it basically becomes a Time Lock."

"Well I don't know how to breach a Time Lock, but I do know how it feels to lose a loved one," Clara said.

"Try losing two loved ones at the same time then," the Doctor said without turning around. Clara frowned; the Doctor had never acted like this to her before.

"Doctor," Clara pulled his arm until he turned around to look at her, "Did you only take me away so that I can act as a replacement for Amy and Rory?"

"Of course not," the Doctor protested, "I need to find out how you keep coming back to life."

"Is that all?" asked Clara, "Is it just your grief for Amy and Rory and your curiosity about me that caused you to take me with you? Do I mean that little to you?"

"What do you mean?" the Doctor said, "You mean a lot to me Clara."

"You're just using me to fill the hole Amy and Rory left aren't you?" Clara said sadly, "You don't really care about me; you just need a distraction so you don't have to grieve anymore."

"That's not true!" the Doctor cried. Clara looked up at him. Even though she was nearly a foot shorter than he was her expression of disappointment and hurt made the Doctor feel very small indeed.

"Look me in the eye and say that," she said. The Doctor held her gaze...and then looked away, "That's what I thought." She pushed past him and walked away.

"Clara wait!" the Doctor hurried after her.

"I shouldn't have come with you," Clara said, "So I'm leaving. I want you to take me home."

"No, you can't leave," the Doctor pleaded, "I need you."

"Only for your own selfish needs," snapped Clara whirling around to face him. She looked close to crying. The Doctor was in a similar state of devastation. The TARDIS hummed soothingly around them but they barely noticed as they stared at each other. Then Clara said, "If I died, you'd just go looking for another version of me wouldn't you? You'd just replace me with one of my other incarnations." The Doctor hesitated; truthfully he _had _considered looking for another version of Clara if her current incarnation died. But he knew that his insensitivity and selfish thoughts about his own feelings were hurting her and if she thought she could just be "recycled" whenever she died it would hurt her even more. He hadn't even considered talking to her about Nina since the funeral; instead he had focussed on his own loss of Amy and Rory, which had taken place ten years earlier, and taken Clara for granted. The Doctor was disgusted with himself.

"No," he said finally, "I admit I was planning to but now I realise how insensitive and shallow that is. Besides the other incarnations of you that are spread throughout the Universe are just echoes of your true self."

"Like yours when you regenerate?" Clara asked.

"Sort of," the Doctor agreed, "Look Clara I'm sorry; I didn't realise how upsetting it was for you to watch me grieving," he sighed, "I did this with one of my other companions Martha Jones and eventually she left me. I don't want you to leave me too." Clara hesitated then her expression softened and she stepped back towards him.

"Don't push me away," she said, "If you really do need me, I'll try and help you recover from what happened to Amy and Rory. But I want you to remember that I am my own person; I'm not their replacement. You need to grieve for them and move on Doctor," the Doctor looked at her, like a sad, guilty child. Clara smiled weakly and took his hand, "Come on," she said, "Let's go to the kitchen and I'll make you a soufflé. You can tell me about them. Remember the good times you had together. I'll listen for as long as you need me to."

"Thank you Clara," said the Doctor gratefully.

* * *

"And then Amy and Rory got married," the Doctor said half an hour later while Clara checked on her soufflé, "and Amy remembered me back into existence," he glanced at Clara, remembering that her other two incarnations had said "Run you clever boy, and remember," just before their deaths. He quickly pushed that thought away not wanting to dwell on the fact that Clara had suffered two tragic deaths. This version of her was still alive and he would move heaven and hell to keep her that way for as long as possible.

"Just like that?" Clara asked with a hint of scepticism, "She just had to remember you after you'd been wiped from history?"

"Yeah," the Doctor said smiling, "Amy could remember alternate timelines thanks to the Time Crack she had in her wall."

"That's got to be a useful ability," Clara noted.

"Yeah it was," the Doctor agreed, "Anyway after the wedding I met River."

"This was before you knew you and she were married in your timeline," Clara said and the Doctor nodded, "So how long have you been married in your own timeline?"

"Just over a hundred years," the Doctor said, "Since River's more Human, than Time Lady, her life span's much shorter than mine. She might be able to live for two or three centuries but certainly nowhere near as long as a full Time Lord. In a way I think she's lucky; when you've lived as long as I have, you carry loads of bad memories. I've had to do some bad things over the centuries."

"Think about the nice memories Doctor," Clara chided him, "Not the nasty ones," the Doctor smiled at her. She was being so patient and understanding, despite the way he had been treating her, and she was probably still hurting from losing Nina. At the thought of the dark skinned woman, the Doctor decided to ask Clara about her.

"What about you and Nina?" he asked, "How did you meet?" Clara was caught off guard and for a moment the Doctor thought he had upset her, but she quickly recovered and smiled.

"We were in university," she said, "And she was my roommate. We just...worked well together, I suppose. We liked the same things we could talk to each other easily. Nina was lonely because she was a lesbian so I tried to pull her out of her shell. Of course we got teased and bullied a lot about our relationship and unlike Nina I'm bisexual, not a lesbian so she sometimes worried that I might go off with a boy. I had a lot of boys flirting with me in university, but I ignored all of them. One of them actually tried to feel me up and kiss me after lessons one day. He was in a lot of pain between the legs once I was finished with him." The Doctor winced.

"Ouch," he said, "And then after university you ended up living together."

"Yes but we had a break first," Clara said, "Nina thought that I was only with her out of pity and she thought I'd be better off with a boy. So after university she left and went to America for a couple of years. I had some great boyfriends but then one of them cheated on me so I went to America to look for Nina. When I found her I convinced her to come home with me. That's how we ended up living together."

"I'm over twelve hundred years old," the Doctor said, "And throughout all of my regenerations I've never had a boyfriend."

"So every single one of your incarnations have been straight?" said Clara.

"Yes," the Doctor said, "I've had men flirting with me before; one of my good friends Captain Jack Harkness flirts with almost anyone, male or female, human or alien; he's even flirted with robots before. But I don't like him in that way. Also the fact that he's a fixed point in time and space makes me uncomfortable when I'm around him."

"Well it is easier being straight," admitted Clara, "But being gay, or in my case, bisexual, can be wonderful if you meet the right person." The oven made a noise and Clara hurried over to it. She looked at the soufflé as she took it out. Then she turned to the Doctor, "I never was very good at making soufflés," she admitted as she held it out. The soufflé hadn't risen properly and seemed slightly burned. The Doctor took it from her, examined it and took a bite. He grinned and ate the rest of it all in one go, getting chocolate all around his mouth in the process.

"This is great!" the Doctor said enthusiastically. Clara looked surprised.

"Really?" she said.

"Yeah," the Doctor said beaming at her and his smile was genuine, "I think I've got a new favourite food." Clara stared at him and then smiled.

"You really are an alien," she said, "My own mother didn't like eating my soufflés."

"Well she doesn't know what she's missing," the Doctor said and kissed Clara on the forehead, "Thank you Clara."

"Great, now you got chocolate in my hair," Clara said in irritation, "Twelve hundred years old and you can't eat a soufflé properly!"

"Twelve hundred and fifteen years old actually," the Doctor corrected her proudly. Clara rolled her eyes.

"That's even worse," she said.

* * *

"Run!" the Doctor yelled grabbing Clara's hand and they sprinted away from the oncoming Raxacoricofallapatorian. Unlike all the other members of her species the Doctor had faced, this one was not a member of the Slitheen family.

"I've only been with you for four months Doctor and I don't think I've ever done this much running before," Clara said.

"How do you stay in such good shape then?" the Doctor asked and Clara grinned.

"Running's not the only way people exercise you know," she said, "Or maybe you don't know. What kind of exercises do Time Lord's have anyway?"

"Well when you're me, running is the main one," the Doctor said as they skidded around a corner.

"No, this way," Clara said taking the lead. Over the last four months, she and the Doctor had been having a bit of a game about who was the leader in their relationship.

"Where are we going?" the Doctor said, "We've gotta get back to the TARDIS!"

"The Raxacoricofallapatorian wants to blow up the planet!" Clara said.

"Yes and we can stop them from the TARDIS!" the Doctor said, "I can materialise her around the bomb and get it off the planet."

"Oh yeah, well _I_ can hack into their computers and disable the bomb without _needing_ to get it off the planet," Clara said, "Also the TARDIS can transport it somewhere else but it might get detonated while we're transporting it."

"Fair point," admitted the Doctor, "But I can disable it in the TARDIS."

"All snuggled up and cosy at home," Clara grinned at him, "Where's the fun in that?"

"Oi, that's my TARDIS you're talking about!" the Doctor said and Clara just laughed as they burst into the main computer room.

"This way the Raxacoricofallapatorian won't detonate it because if she does, she'll blow herself up too," Clara said as she sat at a computer and started hacking into it.

"My Sonic Screwdriver would disable it first," the Doctor retorted.

"You rely too much on that thing Chin Boy," Clara said, "Watch and learn; I'll show you how to disable a bomb _without _a Sonic Screwdriver."

"You!" screeched the female Raxacoricofallapatorian as she stepped into the room, "Get away from the controls!" She lunged at Clara. The Doctor waved his Sonic Screwdriver at her and she drew back, unsure of what he was trying to do. Erasing himself from the Universe had caused the Raxacoricofallapatorians to forget all his tricks.

"This is a lightsaber," he announced, "A laser sword that could slice your head off easier than your claws can slice through us." The Raxacoricofallapatorian hesitated looking at the Sonic Screwdriver warily.

"You haven't ignited any laser," she said.

"That's because it's on low power," the Doctor said, "Only a flash of light at the moment but if I turn it up to full power, then you'll be a dead Slitheen."

"I told you I'm not a Slitheen," the alien said angrily.

"Well the name of your species is just too much of a mouthful," the Doctor said, "What is your surname anyway?"

"Done," Clara said happily, "Bomb's disabled." She looked at the Doctor and pretended to pout, "You weren't watching or learning where you Doctor?" The Raxacoricofallapatorian looked furious but was still hesitant to attack with the Sonic Screwdriver pointed at her face.

"You will step aside," the Doctor said in a hypnotic tone, waving his hand for added effect. Clara rolled her eyes.

"Jedi Mind Tricks don't exist, love, not in this Universe; you told me so yourself," she said. The alien hesitated then her expression hardened.

"You foiled my plan," she said and lashed out with her massive claws. The Doctor ducked and darted around the large creature.

"Clara we're out of here!" he yelled. The small girl ducked beneath another slash of the creature's huge claws and dived between the Raxacoricofallapatorian's legs, her petit frame slipping through easily. The Doctor yanked her to her feet and they ran for their lives.

"You were trying to be a Jedi!" Clara cried.

"How do you know I wasn't being a Sith?" the Doctor replied.

"Because a Sith wouldn't want to disable a bomb, they'd just detonate it," Clara replied. They skidded around a corner and saw the TARDIS. Hurtling towards it, the Doctor snapped his fingers whilst still running and the doors burst open. The Time Lord and his companion darted inside and the Doctor activated the TARDIS. "What about the Raxacoricofallapatorian?" Clara asked, having mastered pronouncing the complicated word very quickly.

"Leave her to the Shadow Proclamation," the Doctor replied as they took off. Clara held onto the consol as the TARDIS jerked. When it was comfortably in the Time Vortex, the Doctor grabbed a phone and rang for the Shadow Proclamation, telling them to arrest the Raxacoricofallapatorian. He grimaced as he put the phone down, "Last time I went to the Shadow Proclamation they weren't too happy with me," he said, "Haven't needed to talk to them much in the last few centuries, thank god."

"What did you do?" asked Clara.

"Refused to give them access to the TARDIS," the Doctor said casually, "They're not the only ones who want to get their hands on it. Actually one of my good friends Winston Churchill has had his men point guns at me to try and get the TARDIS."

"That doesn't sound very friendly," Clara said. The Doctor grinned.

"It's his way of saying hello," he said, "I could take you to see him."

"Sure why not?" Clara shrugged, "I've read about him but it would be nice to meet him in the flesh."


	5. Chapter 5

"Winston Spencer Churchill," beamed the Doctor, ignoring the guns that Winston's men had aimed at him when he stepped out of the TARDIS.

"Good to see you again Doctor," said Winston, "Now give me that TARDIS key!"

"Not on your life," the Doctor grinned. Winston rolled his eyes and gestured for his men to stand down, "Winston, I'd like you to meet my newest companion," the Doctor turned as Clara stepped out of the TARDIS, "This is Clara Oswin Oswald."

"Your companions keep getting prettier Doctor," Winston said, "I am pleased to meet you Miss Oswald."

"Wow," Clara said, "I've read about you Prime Minister, but I never thought I'd meet you. You're a bit larger than I expected." Several of Winston's men looked outraged and the Doctor looked slightly shocked but the Prime Minister just laughed.

"She doesn't beat around the bush does she Doctor?" he said, "Well I suppose I have been treating myself a bit too much recently, with the war being over and all."

"Ah, so you've won," the Doctor said, "Told you, you could do it."

"Yes and we had help from a woman who says she knows you," Winston said.

"Hello sweetie," said a voice and the blonde, curly haired River Song appeared beside the Prime Minister with a smirk on her face. The Doctor looked back at her expressionlessly.

"Hello River," he said rather stiffly. River frowned.

"What's wrong?" she said, "Are we early in your timeline?" she examined his face and then reached for the dairy she kept to keep track of their complicated timelines, "No it's not that. You look older than you were last time. So what...?"

"You abandoned me River!" the Doctor exploded, "You left me when I needed you the most! Do you have any idea how that feels! No of course you don't; I've always been there for you and the one time I needed your support, the one time I needed you to be my wife instead of a gun wielding psychopath you just walk away!" River looked shocked by her husband's rage but she quickly recovered as she realised that she shouldn't have left him by himself after Amy and Rory's deaths. She didn't need to look at her dairy so she dropped it back into the pocket of her coat; clearly her husband was still suffering from losing Amy and Rory.

"I'm sorry sweetie," River said sadly, "I needed to recover."

"You..." the Doctor controlled himself, before he said something offensive, "I needed you River."

"I know," River said, "I'm sorry. I just...I didn't want you to see me cry. I didn't want to make you feel worse."

"Maybe I needed to see you cry," said the Doctor, "To know that Amy and Rory meant as much to you as they did to me."

"Well at least you've got a new companion now," River said nodding at Clara.

"Yes," the Doctor said, "River, this is Clara Oswald. Clara, this is my wife, Professor River Song."

"Hello," Clara said holding out her hand. River shook it and gave the younger woman a smile.

"She hasn't exactly been the best of wives," the Doctor said glaring at River.

"Oh spare me the resentment Doctor," River snapped rounding on him, "I was hurting too you know. Yes I admit it was a mistake to leave you by yourself, but I thought, if you didn't see how upset I was, it might ease the pain. I know you blame yourself for what happened to mum and dad and I didn't want to make that guilt worse!"

"You should have stayed!" the Doctor roared, "We could have grieved together; isn't that what a married couple should do? Clara has had to deal with me grieving for Amy and Rory; she's been helping me heal and it hasn't been easy for her. You of all people know what I'm like when I'm upset River; Clara's had to deal with my mood swings, the times I've snapped at her or locked myself away to think about Amy and Rory. Sometimes I feel so down that I refuse to take her on an adventure but she never complains; she just makes me a soufflé to make me feel better and then we're off again. Meanwhile you've just been gallivanting around the Universe studying ancient ruins!" He looked at Clara, "Without Clara I would have spent the rest of my life in mourning. She saved me River."

"Look," Clara said, touched that the Doctor thought so highly of her, but unwilling to see the married couple argue any longer, "I'm sure you've both made mistakes in your marriage; I made mistakes in my relationship with Nina, but can't you just let them go? You're husband and wife; you should love each other." The Doctor sighed.

"Alright," he said, "I'm sorry River."

"I'm sorry too," River said.

"Well now that the marriage drama is out of the way," said Winston, "Might I offer you some brandy Doctor, to celebrate our victory over those accursed German's. You arrived at the perfect time; our victory took place only a few days ago."

"Oh alright," the Doctor said, "What will you have Clara?"

"I'm not thirsty thanks," Clara said having just noticed a very handsome, blonde haired young man standing off to the side. Clara was capable of being attracted to both males and females and from the way the man's eyes were roaming over her body, she could tell he was interested in her too. Clara gave the man a charming smile and a wink.

"Don't get carried away Miss Oswald," Winston murmured, "Timothy here is quite the ladies man, and not necessarily in a good way."

"Well none of my other female friends are as attractive as you Miss Clara," said Timothy flirtatiously.

"Before you go any further soldier, how many girls are you currently sleeping with?" asked Clara her flirtatious demeanour turning serious very quickly as she heeded Winston's warning. Timothy hesitated and Clara could tell that he was considering telling her a lie. She folded her arms and raised her eyebrows, daring the man to lie to her.

"Three," he admitted.

"I've lost interest," Clara said dismissively and turned to Winston who was smiling at how easily she had dealt with the man, "I think I will have a brandy after all."

* * *

"Master!" croaked one of the creatures, "They have arrived!"

"Finally," said the man who was sitting in a high backed chair on the bridge of his spaceship hovering above the Earth, "The sleeper agent returns and brings the Doctor with her."

"And you will restore our telepathic connection if we bring her to you?" said the creature. The man smiled.

"Those telepathic connections existed in a different reality," he said, "But if I can get into the Heart of the TARDIS I'm fairly sure I can reverse it."

"Thank you Master," said the creature.

**Please review.**


	6. Chapter 6

**It's my birthday but I'm giving you guys a present in the form of this chapter. I hope you appreciate it. The lack of reviews is slightly upsetting, but thank you to those of you who did review.**

Clara and River sat in Winston's lounge chatting about the Doctor. They also talked about Amy and Rory and Clara showed River the photo the Doctor had been looking at in the TARDIS library. Winston and the Doctor had moved into Winston's office to talk about the outcome of the war.

"He's amazing," Clara said, "You're lucky to be married to him."

"Yes I know I am dear," said River, "But sometimes I wonder if he actually loves me or just married me to save reality."

"What exactly happened?" asked Clara.

"Well I destroyed a fixed point in time and time split in half," River said, "Reality was falling apart. The Silence were pissed and decided to just try and kill the Doctor themselves; they were too cowardly to attempt to do it before, instead using me as a puppet. Spineless creatures," she spat the last words out venomously, "They always rely on everyone else to do the hard work for them. Anyway, the Doctor and I got married; we kissed and because we made physical contact time started moving again. The fixed point, where I was supposed to kill the Doctor, still happened but that magnificent man had prepared for it. He hid inside a robot called the Tesselecta and I killed the robot instead of him so he survived."

"Clever boy," Clara said affectionately, ignoring the brief pang of jealousy she felt about River kissing the Doctor. Clara had grown to like the Doctor a great deal but knowing he was married she hadn't tried anything apart from playful and mild flirting which she assumed the Doctor interpreted as harmless teasing.

"Not as clever as our Master," said a deep voice. The two women spun around and River seized her gun as three Silent's stepped out of the shadows. One of them raised a hand and a blast of electricity sent River's gun spinning out of her hand. River lunged forwards, acting under the post hypnotic suggestion of "you should kill us all on sight" and physically tackling the lead Silent to the ground. The two others lunged around the struggling pair but Clara had already grabbed River's gun and one Silent fell with a hole in its chest. The other one unleashed a blast of electricity and disarmed Clara before grabbing her around the neck with its powerful hand. Meanwhile the other Silent threw River aside with terrifying strength, smashing her against the wall as it got to its feet. River collapsed unconscious.

"Let's go," said the Silent. Clara struggled furiously but the Silent was far too strong.

"Clara! River!" the Doctor and Winston had obviously heard the commotion because they burst out of the office. The Prime Minister's revolver was in his hand and one Silent fell with a hole in its head. The last standing one darted towards the door which led into the corridor. It turned as Winston aimed his revolver. The one that Clara had shot was still alive but was unable to get to its feet. The only uninjured Silent ignored its comrade.

"Do you want the girl to die?" it asked. Winston fired anyway. The Silent dodged it and the Doctor hastily disarmed Winston with his Sonic Screwdriver.

"Stop Winston!" he cried, "You almost hit Clara," He turned to the Silent, "What do you want with her?"

"Come and find us, and you will find out," said the Silent and disappeared through the door. The Doctor darted after it but the Silent turned on the spot as a force field sprang up around it. Then it was teleported away taking Clara with it. As soon as it was gone, the Doctor forgot it had even been there.

"Clara? River?" he said looking around in confusion and wondering why he was suddenly out in the corridor instead of in Winston's office.

"Doctor," said Winston, "What is that on the ground?" he pointed to a flat circular device. The Doctor scanned it with his Sonic Screwdriver.

"A two trip teleport, one here and one back to wherever it goes back to," he turned and then River came stumbling out of the Prime Minister's lounge, "River are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she mumbled, "What happened? Where's Clara?"

"Well considering the fact that she disappeared and nobody can remember how, and the fact that there is a Silent behind you that appears to have been killed by your gun..." the Doctor nodded into the lounge where the body of the Silent Clara had injured and River had finished off was lying, "I'd say that other Silent's have captured her," the Doctor looked at Winston, "Winston make, sure my wife's okay. I need to find my companion." Winston nodded as the Doctor sprinted to the TARDIS. "Get me there dear!" he commanded the Time Machine as he ran around the controls, "Get me where I need to be!" The TARDIS made a noise of agreement and took off.

* * *

"Clara," said the blonde haired man as he stepped towards the girl with an evil smile. Clara's hands were cuffed behind her back and a cloth was bound tightly around her mouth, gagging her. She had been able to reach and remove the gag with some difficulty by bending her elbows enough to reach up and leaning her head down towards her hands, but then her captors had attached her handcuffs to a thin but strong chain around her waist which stopped her from reaching it and hurt her waist because it was tight. The gag had been tied tighter this time so she couldn't just shake it off either. Unable to speak she just glared up at the man defiantly and he chuckled as he pulled down the gag, leaving it hanging around the young woman's neck, "It's been far too long."

"Who are you?" asked Clara.

"The Doctor would call me his arch enemy," the man responded, "Quite fitting I think, considering he is basically the only worthy opponent I've faced in my life." He stroked her long brown hair and Clara jerked away from him, "Still as beautiful as ever I see."

"Let me guess," Clara said, ignoring the shiver that had gone through her body when he touched her, "You met me in one of my other lives."

"Clever girl," the man replied, "As a matter of fact I was the one who gave you all those lives."

"How?" asked Clara.

"I'll explain when the Doctor arrives," the man said and stood up, "You have done well my little sleeper agent, keeping track of his movements. It was so difficult to keep up with him once he started erasing himself from the Universe. Originally I just wanted to use you as a lifeline but you turned into something far more useful."

"I'm not an object!" Clara said angrily, "I'm a Human being." The man chuckled.

"I'm not," he said, "My people are far more powerful than any Human. Unfortunately the Doctor wiped them all out."

"Tell me who you are," Clara demanded.

"If you insist," said the man and knelt down. Clara shivered as he breathed on her neck. Then he whispered in her ear, "I am the Master."

**I guess it was pretty obvious I would be using the Master as the main villain after the last chapter but I still want to know what you guys think. By the way the Master is still in the same incarnation he was in The End of Time. If, by some miracle, this turns out to be like the storyline for the Fields of Trenzalore (which I think might be part of the 50th anniversary), I want John Simm to play the Master again.**


	7. Chapter 7

The Doctor stormed through the ship, having traced the teleportation signal straight into the middle of it. The TARDIS had insisted he make a few stops first, and since it was a Time Machine he didn't really have an actual reason to hurry to Clara's location apart from worry. He trusted that the TARDIS had brought him to the right place and knew that Clara was close. He looked around, holding a pen and preparing to mark his arm if he saw any of the Silence but for some reason they seemed to be leaving him alone. His lip curled; maybe they were just too scared to face him.

He entered the next room and found himself in a huge chamber that looked suspiciously like a TARDIS control room. Then he recognised it as the same TARDIS control room he had encountered with Craig Owens and when Amy Pond had been kidnapped by the Silence while she was a ganger.

"This place again," he said looking around. Then he heard a muffled sound. He went around the consol and saw Clara, bound and gagged on the floor. She shook her head at him desperately making muffled noises through the cloth tied tightly over her mouth.

"Typical Doctor," said a voice and a blonde haired man stepped out behind Clara, "Always willing to dive headlong into peril to rescue one of your beloved companions." The Doctor stared at the man in disbelief.

"You died," he said, "How can you be here?" The man rolled his eyes.

"Oh please," he said, "You should know by now that I don't need regenerations to survive. How many times have I been resurrected; three? And they did not require regenerations."

"But how could you escape the Time War?" the Doctor said, "I saw you go into the Time Lock with Rassilon and the others. Gallifrey was only hours away from destruction. How could you possibly break out within a few hours?"

"With your pretty little companion," the Master replied and stroked Clara's long dark brown hair. She jerked her head away from him muttering something into her gag, "You've been wondering how she can be split through the Universe Doctor. Well I made her this way. And not only that, I also started the religious order of the Silence; the species insisted I name it after them. Of course finding you got much harder when you erased yourself from the Universe so I needed a sleeper agent to keep an eye on you."

"You started the Silence?" the Doctor gasped.

"Oh yes," said the Master, "And told them about the Question; I was the one who started the prophecy. Of course I already know the answer; you remember our childhood on Gallifrey just as well as I do I'm sure. If you'd known back then that we were going to become mortal enemies, I'm sure you would never have dared to tell me your name."

"Yes I've regretted that for my whole life," the Doctor admitted, "But you forgot it when Rassilon put the drumming in your head didn't you?"

"Yes well now that Gallifrey is truly destroyed, the drumming has stopped," the Master said, "After tormenting me ever since I was eight years old, it finally stopped when Gallifrey fell. For that I suppose I should be grateful, but the truth is I've been feeling a bit lonely without it. So I decided it was time to bring back an old lover." Clara shook her head frantically, her wide brown eyes pleading with the Doctor, "You can deny it my dear, but it happened. You just don't remember it because it was in another lifetime."

"You seduced her," the Doctor growled, "And then you split her through time and space. That was how you got out of the Time War wasn't it? You took her to Gallifrey before I closed the Time Lock and scattered her DNA through the Untempered Schism to give you a link between Gallifrey and the rest of the Universe. And that link was even smaller than the White Point Star Rassilon used; literally only a few cells from her body thrown through the Untempered Schism which landed and grew into Clara in several mothers womb's throughout the Universe. That's why you didn't drag the rest of the Time War out with you; it would have split apart just like Clara's DNA if it had followed you out of the Time Lock but you only needed to latch onto one piece of DNA."

"Very good Doctor," the Master crowed, "You always said I was 'hypnotic'. Well I used my obvious charm and good looks to get the very first version of her to fall in love with me." Clara glared up at the Master who simply gave her a charming smile which made the girl want to spit in his face. She would have done so if not for the gag tied over her mouth.

"That is low, even for you Master," the Doctor snarled, "Seducing an innocent girl and then mutilating her DNA and forcing her to suffer through the entire Time War so you could keep the link until the final day." Another thought occurred to him as he remembered the Master's condition the last time they met. "Are you still losing Life Force?"

"Not anymore," the Master said cheerfully, "Stole a Time Lady's regenerations just before leaving the Time War. I took them from your old friend Romana as a matter of fact, and that restored this body to full strength and gave me an extra supply of regeneration energy." The Doctor glared at him.

"You tried to steal my regenerations once," he muttered, remembering when he had encountered the Master shortly after his regeneration into his Eighth incarnation, "How could I not sense you?"

"You're getting old Doctor," the Master smirked, "Your senses aren't as strong as they used to be."

"I can still sense another full Time Lord," the Doctor growled.

"Well obviously you can't because I was able to hide from you," the Master said then shrugged, "I'm a good telepath Doctor; I was blocking my thoughts and until now I was in the parallel reality where the Silence had telepathic powers so they helped me cancel out your senses. Time was in flux when you wiped out their telepathic connections so I stayed in the alternate reality where you _didn't _destroy their ability. Once I came to this reality I realised what you'd done and promised the Silence I'd reverse it."

"What do you want this time Master?" the Doctor asked, "Why did you get your memory proof lackeys to kidnap Clara? Come to think of it, how can you even remember them without an eye drive?"

"Contact lenses that work just like an eye drive but without obscuring my vision," the Master replied, pointing to his eyes; the contact lenses were only visible if one looked very closely, "Eye drives are easier to make but I prefer to be able to see through both eyes instead of just one, so I invented the lenses as an alternative means of remembering them. As for why I ordered my servants to kidnap Clara, the answer is I want you to reveal your true name."

"You know I can't do that," the Doctor replied.

"You can," the Master said, "and you will. You see Doctor, Rassilon may have been mad but he was onto something when he suggested the Final Sanction. I simply modified his idea a bit; I intend to open the Time War, with your name acting as the key of course, and that will tear the Time Vortex apart. But then I will use your TARDIS and the Pandorica to restore the Universe. It's a risk admittedly but when it works, I will have saved the Universe and everyone will worship me."

"So that's it," the Doctor said, "Just another Universal domination plan. You make me sick Master."

"I know," the Master said delightedly.

"You already know my name," the Doctor said, "Like you said before I told it to you when I was a child."

"Yes but the Time Lock is voice activated as you damn well know," the Master rolled his eyes "Only you can open it by saying your name."

"Master," said one of the Silent's, "We have arrived."

"Excellent," the Master said, "I'm sure you heard the prophecy of the fall of the Eleventh, Doctor. Well this is where it takes place. This is also the home world of the Silence before I took them to Earth. Welcome to the Fields of Trenzalore!"


	8. Chapter 8

"You know what I don't understand?" the Doctor said as he was dragged out onto the fields of Trenzalore which were quite literally a whole grassland around the entire planet. It seemed like an extremely boring planet, very unsuitable for somewhere that could hold the event that decided the fate of the Universe, "The Silence have been trying to _prevent _me from answering the Question."

"No that was a bunch of disloyal members of the order," the Master said from behind him, "Members who were too cowardly to take the risk necessary for rebuilding the Universe. It's a shame that so many of them defected; the true religious order of the Silence is so much smaller than it used to be. When you erased the Silence's telepathic powers, members had only just started defecting from the order."

"I thought that was before the order existed in their timeline," the Doctor admitted.

"You were wrong," the Master said, "The order existed before I even took the Silence to Earth; obviously I know that's your favourite planet so it was the best place for them to keep an eye on you. Anyway as time went on, members started to lose faith and decided getting rid of you was a better option. Only one fifth of the entire order remained loyal to me, and then most of the Silent's stationed on Earth were exterminated and you erased yourself from the Universe, which made it almost impossible to keep track of you. Therefore I started using Clara."

"The Silence got so obsessed with killing me they used my loved ones against me," the Doctor said.

"Indeed," said the Master and shrugged, "Pathetic, cowardly life forms; at least I'm not obsessed with killing you. I wouldn't have any worthy opponent if I killed you and where's the fun in that? Fortunately a few members of the order remained loyal to their Master." He gestured at the Silent's that were around him, four of them including the one that was pulling the Doctor, but more were appearing from the land around the ship. One of them was pushing Clara who struggled to keep her balance with her hands bound behind her back. Then the Silent shoved her hard and she fell painfully to the ground with a muffled cry.

"If I do this will you let her go?" the Doctor said looking at his companion in concern.

"Maybe," said the Master, "Although chances are she won't survive the end of the Universe; I'll be wiping out all of her lives in one go. Then again she will come back to life when the Universe is restored but I'm sure you'd prefer it if she didn't die at all especially since you've seen her die twice already."

"Put her in the Pandorica," the Doctor said, "You can use her to restore the Universe and then take credit for it; just don't kill her Master. I'm begging you."

"Ah yes speaking of the Pandorica," the Master said and snapped his fingers. Four Silent's came down the ramp of the Master's large ship, carrying the massive box that had served as the Doctor's prison nearly three and a quarter centuries earlier. Two more appeared carrying the TARDIS. Clara struggled to her knees and watched as the Silent's put the two boxes side by side.

"Why did you make your TARDIS so big?" the Doctor asked gesturing to the Master's spaceship.

"Stole a Dalek ship from the Time War and modified it once I returned to the Universe," the Master explained, "Essentially it's a cross between a Dalek ship and a TARDIS." He looked at Clara who shuddered at the word 'Dalek', "Ah, I think my presence is starting to reactivate her memories. They are still dormant in her mind Doctor and I can force her to remember everything she's been through during all of her lives."

"It would drive her mad," the Doctor said, "Or just outright kill her; Human minds are not designed to hold that much history no matter how strong they are."

"I know," the Master said, "Your companion is strong Doctor, admirably so for a Human. She held onto her sanity longer than I expected during the Time War but eventually it was too much for her and she lost her mind. That's why I ran; I was worried her first incarnation would commit suicide and the link would be lost so I had to get out just in case. Fortunately she retained enough sanity to resist the temptation to kill herself until the Final Day."

"How has she helped you keep an eye on me?" the Doctor asked, stalling for time.

"Telepathic connection," the Master said, "I've had sex with her many times Doctor and that gave her mild telepathic abilities, just enough for me to read her thoughts, although she can't sense me when I'm in her head. A few science experiments helped her telepathy too of course, but she still can't communicate back to me, even if she did know I was in her mind. Obviously no pregnancy from the sex either but I've never been interested in having kids anyway."

"You raped her and used her as a science project you mean?" the Doctor snarled.

"No," the Master said, "Not at first. Admittedly she was less willing after the Time War began but until then she was relatively happy to allow me to ravish her." Clara screamed something through her gag that sounded like "fuck off!" The Master chuckled and then turned serious, "We've wasted enough time. Open the Time Lock Doctor." The Doctor hesitated. The Master stepped towards Clara and put a hand on her forehead. Suddenly the girl collapsed and groaned through her gag. There was no physical injury, but the Master had just activated all the dormant memories of the Time War, the Dalek Asylum, the Great Intelligence and all the other things she had seen and done throughout her different lives. So many images rushing into Clara's head was too much for a Human mind to hold; she could feel her head growing hotter and felt as though it was about to explode.

"Stop it!" the Doctor yelled.

"You can't fail to answer the Question now Doctor!" the Master crowed, "Not unless you want sweet little Clara's mind to burn! It's only a matter of time before the memories become too much for her!"

"Alright!" the Doctor cried, "I'll say it! Just stop torturing her; you've hurt her enough already!" The Master tapped Clara's head again, telepathically putting all the memories back to sleep. Clara collapsed in the grass, unconscious. The Doctor spoke but instead of saying his true name he announced, "Children of Time, come to me!" There were flashes of light as people teleported onto the planet. The TARDIS had insisted that the Doctor would need backup for this rescue mission. Captain Jack Harkness appeared standing beside River Song, with Madam Vastra, Jenny Flint and Strax the Sontaran joining them. Also among them were Martha Jones and her husband Mickey Smith, in addition to the old soldier Wilfred Mott. Canton Everett Delaware also appeared looking older but not old enough to have experienced the Doctor's fake funeral yet which was reassuring. The Master sighed in annoyance, seeming unconcerned about their sudden appearance.

"You are so predictable Doctor," he said, sounding almost disappointed, "Kill them!" The Silent's around him sent forks of electricity flying towards the Doctor's friends.

Jack fell first but none of the others reacted to his death, all of them being aware of his immortality, having been told by Martha before they teleported there. Vastra sliced her way through two Silent's with her swords and hurried towards Clara, stabbing another Silent foolish enough to get in her way. Then the Master pulled out a device and shot a laser at the Silurian. Vastra was caught completely off guard and had no time to defend herself or dodge before the deadly beam hit her. She collapsed and the Master laughed as he held up his Laser Screwdriver.

"No!" screamed Jenny and charged at the evil Time Lord. A Silent stepped forwards but she stabbed it straight through the chest and shoved its body aside before it even had time to die. However the Master had enough time to aim his Laser Screwdriver once more and Jenny collapsed to the ground beside her lover. The Master looked down at their bodies and then dismissed them and watched the fight, twirling his Laser Screwdriver casually between his fingers.

The Silent's were winning. This was their home planet and so no matter how many the Doctor's allies killed more of them kept on coming. Captain Jack was back on his feet, his immortality allowing him to recover, but old Wilfred Mott had been turned into a pile of ash. The Doctor himself was waving his Sonic Screwdriver, disrupting the Silent's electricity, which they seemed to be drawing from the planet itself; obviously the Fields of Trenzalore had an electrical current running through the planet. River was being particularly ferocious due to her long lasting hatred of the Silence while Martha and Mickey fought side by side like a married couple should. Strax was shooting the Silent's mercilessly, a bloodthirsty grin on his face. The Master was too busy watching the fight to notice that Clara had regained consciousness and moved stealthily towards him.

The evil Time Lord glanced aside but Clara was fast even with her hands bound behind her back. She kicked the Laser Screwdriver out of the Master's hand with astonishing precision. While the Master stumbled back, alarmed by her unexpected attack, the Doctor turned.

"Clara!" he called and darted forwards. A Silent tried to electrocute him but he activated his Sonic Screwdriver and the electricity was absorbed back into the Silent's body as he reversed it causing the Silent to stumble back in pain as it was electrocuted by its own attack. The Doctor dived and seized the Laser Screwdriver as he skidded on his belly across the prickly grass but one of the other Silent's sent a bolt of electricity into it. The Screwdriver overloaded and the Doctor hastily threw it away before it exploded. He had a feeling that the Master wasn't going to be happy when he saw his Laser Screwdriver had been destroyed.

"You were foolish to fight me girl!" the Master snarled striking Clara across her face with the back of his right hand and knocking her sideways. Unable to break her fall, Clara landed painfully on her left shoulder but her gag had been knocked loose by the blow. She shook her head and it fell off her mouth and hung around her neck as she glared at the Master.

"You did this to me," she panted, "You turned me into your toy! You scattered me through the Universe and made me spy on the Doctor without me even knowing it!"

"I also allowed you to live more lives than any Human should live," the Master snarled, "You should be thanking me!"

"For all I know I could have done terrible things in my past lives," Clara retorted, "I have no reason to feel grateful to scum like you!"

"Well I suppose you are of no further use to me," the Master said and gestured to one of the Silent's, "Kill her!" The Silent started absorbing electricity. Clara glared at the Master defiantly waiting for the killing blow.

"No!" the Doctor used his Sonic Screwdriver to reverse the electricity into the Silent's body. It boomed with pain and stumbled away before Canton shot it through the skull. By now the Doctor, Canton, Jack and River were the only members of the rescue team who were still alive and Jack had already died once during the battle.

"I've had enough of this!" snarled the Master and lunged at the Doctor, causing the other Time Lord to fall to the ground. The two centuries old Time Lords started rolling around in the grass like a pair of violent, overgrown schoolboys. Clara looked over her shoulder at her handcuffs wondering how to free herself then saw a Silent building up electricity to shoot at River.

"River get down!" she screamed, pleased that her mouth was no longer gagged. River reacted with lightning speed and ducked before turning and shooting the Silent in the chest.

"Pretty girl, turn sideways and show me the cuffs chain!" Jack ordered and Clara obeyed, not having time to feel flattered as she turned to the side and pulling one arm away from her body while pressing the other to her back, exposing the two links long chain between her cuffs. With the precision of one who had spent centuries practicing with a gun, Jack shot the handcuffs and the bullet shattered the chain that connected the cuffs, simultaneously breaking the chain that connected the cuffs to Clara's waist. Jack then bellowed with pain as he was electrocuted from behind and collapsed, dying for the second time (although a side effect of his immortality prevented the Silence from turning him to ash; apparently the Bad Wolf had not wanted him to waste time putting himself back together like he had when there was a bomb in his stomach). Clara darted swiftly to Strax's corpse and grabbed his gun before shooting the Silent through the head.

"I'm sorry for what Rassilon turned you into," the Doctor cried as he struggled to hold off the Master's almost animal like savagery, "But the drumming has stopped! You don't have to do all this evil stuff anymore!"

"The drumming made me who I am Doctor," snarled the Master, "It's too late for me to turn soft now!" The Doctor threw his arch enemy off and struggled to his feet. The circled each other like a pair of ancient, savage wolves.

"Doctor we could really use one of your brilliant ideas right now!" bellowed Jack, back on his feet and firing wildly at the remaining Silent's alongside the two women and Canton.

"You're out of ideas aren't you?" the Master said, "Teleportation may work to get you onto the planet but the electrical current under the surface disrupts your teleports; even a Vortex Manipulator would have trouble working here and risk tearing apart the person using it. Fortunately my ship can use this place to recharge and the Silent's, can draw the electricity out of it if it gets too powerful." He smirked at the Doctor who glared back at him, into eyes filled with a manic delight, despite the fact that the drumming in his head had finally stopped, "Soon your beloved Clara and River will join the rest of those corpses and ashes. And handsome gay man Canton won't even get a chance to make out with Jack before he perishes. As for Jack himself I will ensure that he is wiped from the Universe when I restore it; his immortality cannot save him if he never even existed."

"Call off the Silent's," the Doctor said, "Call them off and I'll say the name. I won't try to avoid it again Master; just stop them and I'll say it. If they die, you'll never get me to say my name."

"Very well," the Master said, "Enough!" The Silent's stopped their ferocious assault leaving the girl split through time, the Doctor's part Time Lady wife, the gay ex FBI agent and the man who could never die, standing on the Fields of Trenzalore exhausted but alive. The Doctor sighed with relief.

"River," he said and his wife turned to him, "Come here." She stepped towards him. "I've got something to tell you; something you will need to know during your future." He thought back to the Library, when River had whispered his real name into his ear. Now was the time for him to finally reveal it to her. No matter how quietly he whispered it, the Universe would hear and the Time Lock would open but he leaned close anyway and whispered his true name into his wife's ear.

**Hope you guys were satisfied with the battle, and although most of them were only cameo appearances, I hope you like the fact that I've included some of the Doctor's older friends and companions. I considered adding the Brigadier as a link to the Classic Series, but I thought that would make the scene where the Doctor learns of the Brigadier's death in The Wedding of River Song lose its impact. Plus, with River, Amy and Clara being the obvious exceptions, the Doctor rarely, if ever, goes to visit companions after he's learned that they've died; whether that's him being "the man who keeps running, never looking back because he dare not out of shame" or simply one of the laws of Time I'm not sure.**

**Review please, just a single one is enough to sustain me, although obviously I would prefer more than one.**


	9. Chapter 9

The Question had been answered. At first nothing happened but then the whole planet started to shake; in fact the Doctor was quite sure that the entire Universe was shaking. Everyone fell to their knees, including the Master, who laughed as he saw the massive red form of Gallifrey begin to materialise.

"Thanks a lot Doctor!" roared Jack, "You sold out the Universe to rescue four people."

"Four brilliant, gorgeous people," the Doctor replied and turned to them, "All of you get into the Pandorica; it'll be a squeeze but that's the only thing that will protect you when the Time Vortex gets torn apart."

"What about you?" Clara asked. The Doctor shrugged.

"If I'm going to destroy the Universe it's quite fitting that I get destroyed with it," he said, "I guess this is the fall of the Eleventh; I'm going down with the rest of the Universe."

Then they heard a sound; the sound of the TARDIS. But it was much louder than usual as though there were at least nine TARDIS' materialising. Everyone looked around and the Master suddenly seemed uncertain; this clearly wasn't part of his plan. Then nine identical TARDIS' emerged and from each one of them, a man stepped out.

Nine out of ten of the Doctor's previous incarnations had arrived. The Eleventh Doctor stared in shock as his predecessors looked around.

"It's all of you!" he said.

"Who are you?" asked his Second incarnation.

"I'm you in the future," said the Doctor and then gestured around, "And all of these people are you too. Each, regeneration has come together; very good timing too."

"Well the cloister bell tolled and the TARDIS brought me here," said the Fourth Doctor, "Obviously the same thing happened in the TARDIS at some point in each of our regenerations. So what Universal disaster are we facing this time?"

"Oh god, someone is trying to destroy the Universe again," said the First Doctor irritably, as though that sort of thing happened every day, "I'm getting too old for this."

"You're the youngest of all of us," said the Fourth Doctor in amusement.

"My golly," said the Second pointing up at the sky, "That's Gallifrey coming towards us."

"Oh no," said the Tenth Doctor, "The Time Lock has been opened."

"Time Lock?" the Third Doctor asked.

"Oh right it hasn't happened in your timelines yet," the Tenth Doctor said and then gestured to the Eighth Doctor, "Well this version of us puts Gallifrey into a Time Lock due to the Last Great Time War."

"And now he's opened the Time War for the second time," said the Eleventh Doctor, pointing at the Master, who seemed unable to move due to the shock of being faced with all the incarnations of his greatest foe.

"Koschei," said the First Doctor, using the Master's true name, "So you are the one behind this."

"Technically you're Eleventh incarnation is the one behind it," the Master said pointing to the Eleventh Doctor, "He spoke his name and opened the Time Lock."

"Because you forced him no doubt," said the Third Doctor, "So what fresh horror have you prepared for us this time?"

"The destruction and restoration of the Universe," the Eleventh Doctor said, "Another Universal domination plan," he looked around, "Where's the Ninth Doctor?"

"Wait he's not the Ninth Doctor?" said the Eighth Doctor pointing to the Tenth.

"No I'm the Tenth," responded the Tenth Doctor.

"Oh great," muttered the Eighth Doctor, "I'm going to regenerate very soon aren't I?"

"Gentlemen I believe we have a more pressing problem right now," said the Sixth Doctor, "In case you haven't realised, Gallifrey is descending on us with no sign of stopping. And Time's tearing itself apart."

"Yes, that's how we were all able to come together," said the Seventh Doctor thoughtfully, "All the Kings of various Chess games in one place."

"Oh will you stop with your damn Chess references!" the Eighth Doctor said with intense irritation, "This is exactly why I don't like thinking about when I was you!"

"Ah but life is a Chess game," said the Seventh Doctor, "And we are the pieces."

"Look are we going to save the Universe or not!" cried the Eleventh Doctor.

"Koschei's trying to escape," said the First Doctor casually as the Master ran towards his ship. The Sixth Doctor lunged forwards and tackled the Master to the ground.

"You're not going anywhere you egotistical maniac!" he shouted.

"You're calling me egotistical?" the Master said, "You're probably the most arrogant of all your incarnations." The Sixth Doctor looked at his Seventh, Eighth, Tenth and Eleventh incarnations.

"Am I?" he said.

"Oh yes," said the Tenth Doctor cheerfully.

"So how are we supposed to seal this Time Lock before the Universe falls apart?" asked the Fifth Doctor nervously, looking up at Gallifrey which was still coming slowly but surely towards the planet.

"Well our true name opened it," said the Seventh Doctor thoughtfully, "So perhaps it can close it."

"That is how we sealed the Time Lock in the first place," the Tenth Doctor.

"That's far too easy," said the Eleventh Doctor, "If we just had to speak our name to open and close the Time Lock whenever we chose we wouldn't have to hide it in the first place."

"I always wondered why you lot hid our name before the Time War even began," said the Tenth Doctor.

"Well it's always nice to be mysterious," the Fourth Doctor said cheerfully, "What's the point of being an alien from outer space if there's no mystery around you?"

"What if we all forgot our name?" suggested the Fifth Doctor quietly. All the others looked at him, "Think about it; if we wiped our name from all of our memories, then we would never have spoken it in the first place. That would also mean we actually have an excuse to not tell anybody our name."

"That could work," said the Seventh Doctor, "If the Time Lock was created by us it will forget that we ever spoke our name to it, as long as we've forgotten it. The link can only remain if our name is inside our heads; once we forget it the link should snap since it hasn't yet reached its destination, due to the fact that the Time Lock is not fully open yet, and it won't lead anywhere. A Time Lock only knows its password for as long as the one who created it knows the password."

"Yes but without our name we would never have been able to lock the Time Lock in the first place," the Tenth Doctor told him, "It will never have been there."

"Yes but Time is only falling apart as long as the Time Lock is opening," said the Seventh Doctor, "If it never existed, the paradox should cancel out the danger of the Universe being destroyed. Fight paradox with paradox."

"Just like killing a Weeping Angel with its own food source," the Eleventh Doctor said, remembering how Amy and Rory had killed all of the Angels in Manhatten just before they'd been sent back in time by one that had been hanging around in a graveyard. Thinking about Amy and Rory didn't hurt so much now that he had Clara; she really had helped him recover.

"The Time War could be unleashed upon the Universe then," pointed out the Tenth Doctor.

"I can pop up there and put the Time Lock back on as soon as it fades," said the Eighth Doctor, "I'll have to be fast of course, but I think I can manage it; I know how a Time Lock works. But I'll need to know my name, and I have to forget it first, along with the rest of you."

"I can give your Eighth incarnation your true name sweeties," said River, stepping between the different incarnations of her husband, "Eleven over there told it to me just before you arrived."

"Ah, Professor Song," the Tenth Doctor smiled sadly, "Wasn't expecting to see you again; not in this body."

"What do you mean sweetie?" asked River.

"Spoilers," said the Eleventh Doctor, glaring at the Tenth before he said something he shouldn't. Suddenly the planet rumbled again; Gallifrey was getting ready to smash the Fields of Trenzalore to pieces and the Time Lock had almost completely opened. All the Time Lord's on the planet, including River who was less than half Time Lady, could feel the Time Vortex straining to keep itself together. Clara, Jack and Canton couldn't sense it but they could definitely feel the planet wide earthquake.

"Right we need to wipe each other's memories," the Tenth Doctor said, "It will create a paradox but River can set it right by telling us our name once the Time Lock vanishes."

"I think it's best if we wipe Koschei's memory too," grunted the First Doctor, "He doesn't deserve to know it."

"No problem," said the Sixth Doctor who was still on top of the Master. The Master struggled but the Sixth Doctor head butted him hard, telepathically erasing his real name from the Master's mind.

"I don't know why I didn't do that, centuries ago," muttered the Second Doctor.

"Maybe because we're all about to forget our own name?" the Eighth Doctor suggested.

"And the Master had already forgotten it because of the drumming in his head," added the Tenth.

"Good point," agreed the Second and all incarnations closed their eyes. Telepathically they linked with each other, feeling the essence of the same man with different faces and different personalities spread through each incarnation. Then they telepathically wiped their memories of their mother telling them their name and all the times it had been mentioned since their birth. Each of the Doctors opened their eyes.

"What's your name?" the Eleventh Doctor snapped his fingers and pointed to the First Doctor.

"We just wiped each other's memories of our name," the First Doctor said irritably, "I can't remember."

"But we do remember the memory wipe itself," the Fifth Doctor said.

"Yeah we just can't remember the exact words we erased," the Tenth Doctor said.

"Why don't we call ourselves John Smith?" suggested the Fourth Doctor, "A nice Human name, John Smith."

"Too simple for my taste," grunted the Seventh Doctor, looking up at Gallifrey which had literally just vanished from the sky, "Oh look it worked. The Time Lock hasn't happened yet, because my successor forgot the name needed to create it."

"You'd better create the Time Lock within the next few minutes or the Time Lock won't have existed and the Time War will be unleashed on the Universe," said the Tenth Doctor said to the Eighth Doctor, "I know you won't be fast enough because a few Daleks will escape but at least you can stop the Final Sanction."

"Alright I'm going," said the Eighth Doctor and hurried into his TARDIS.

"Wait a moment!" called River, "You can't create it without knowing your name."

"Good point," said the Eighth Doctor and hurried back to his future wife who whispered his real name into his ear. As she did so the Tenth and Eleventh incarnations both remembered their real name. With a brief nod, the Eighth Doctor sprinted to his TARDIS which dematerialised.

"How long does it take to create a Time Lock?" Clara asked the Eleventh Doctor having walked over to him cautiously. She was standing close, looking around at his other incarnations warily. They may have been the Doctor but none of them were _her _Doctor.

"Couple of minutes," he replied. Only a couple of seconds later (the Eighth Doctor had decided to time travel on the way back, since there was no way he could have created the Time Lock in only seven seconds) they heard the TARDIS reappearing and the Eighth Doctor stumbled out.

"What's wrong?" asked the Third Doctor in concern.

"Got a very unwelcome guest in my TARDIS," panted the Eighth gesturing into the interior of the ship.

"Exterminate!" said the voice of a Dalek as it emerged from the TARDIS.

"You let a god damned Dalek into the TARDIS?" bellowed the Sixth Doctor leaping to his feet and releasing the Master in the process. The Master sat up.

"Not on purpose," said the Eighth, "They've become rather good at infiltrating TARDIS'. I managed to keep the rest of them out though."

"I'll take care of this," said the Eleventh stepping towards the Dalek, "Obviously this Dalek is in bad shape; if it was at full strength you wouldn't have time for regeneration." The Dalek was looking extremely battered from what it had experienced during the Time War. It tried to fire at the Eleventh Doctor but had apparently used up its last bit of power to hit the Eighth. The Dalek backed away.

"Mercy," it pleaded.

"What did you say?" asked the Eleventh Doctor.

"Mercy!" said the Dalek again.

"Sorry dear you'll have to speak up," the Eleventh Doctor taunted.

"MERCY!" cried the Dalek again. The Eleventh Doctor ruthlessly tore off its head and activated the self-destruct with his Sonic Screwdriver before shoving the doomed Dalek into the Eighth Doctor's TARDIS. The Eighth Doctor stumbled past him to the TARDIS and stepped inside, glancing out at them.

"Well I think I'm going to go and regenerate in private," he said, "During the Time War I found it's best to be alone; stops you from losing people you care about. Plus I don't think it would be very nice for you lot to watch a past or future version of yourselves die," he closed the door and his TARDIS dematerialised.

"What about the Master?" asked the Fifth Doctor, looking at the Master who now had a black eye and was in the grip of the Third Doctor instead of the Sixth; the Sixth Doctor looked slightly annoyed, as though the Third had just stolen his prize.

"Well we could kill the power mad conspirator," the Sixth Doctor said.

"No," said the Tenth Doctor, "After the Time War, he's the last remaining Time Lord apart from us. We can't kill him."

"So lock him in the Pandorica," said the Eleventh, "It was designed to be a prison and he will never die as long as he's in there."

"We imprison him for eternity?" asked the Tenth Doctor doubtfully, "I think that's too cruel."

"Well we don't want him trying to tear the Universe apart," the Eleventh Doctor replied, "How else are we supposed to ensure he doesn't try and conquer the Universe again?"

"He has got a point," said the Seventh Doctor.

"Alright then," said the Sixth, "into the Pandorica you go Master!" The Third nodded in agreement and started shoving the Master towards the box like prison.

"I'll be back, Doctor!" snarled the Master as the Third Doctor dragged him towards the Pandorica to lock him inside it, "This Universe will be mine someday!"

"Oh shut up, that's what you always say," said the Eleventh Doctor rolling his eyes, "Honestly you should find yourself another hobby." The Sixth Doctor locked the Master into the chair inside the box like prison. The Master screamed and cursed his enemies but they ignored him as the Pandorica started to close. For as long as the Master remained inside it, there was no way he could threaten the Universe. Of course if someone let him out that was different. The Silent's had all fled, like the cowards they truly were, too frightened to stay when all of the Doctor's incarnations were in one place, but obviously everyone present had forgotten that they'd even been there in the first place.

"Well I think we had better get going too," said the First Doctor, "After all we're not supposed to be meeting past and future versions of each other." The others all nodded as the First Doctor went to his TARDIS. He gave them a brief nod and then closed the door.

"Alright then," said the Second Doctor, "I've got to go; things to do, places to be! I'll see you all when I regenerate into you!" he hurried to his TARDIS.

"Goodbye my dear fellows," said the Third Doctor, "I look forward to becoming you." He left in his own TARDIS.

"Well I'd better get going before Sarah Jane wakes up. Humans really can sleep can't they?" said the Fourth Doctor. He flicked his extremely long scarf over his shoulder and strode to his TARDIS whistling a tune.

"I've got a cricket game soon," said the Fifth Doctor, "Goodbye," he went to his TARDIS.

"Saved the Universe once more," said the Sixth Doctor, "Now I'm going to do so again at another point in time," he went to his own TARDIS.

"It has been a pleasure saving the Universe with you," said the Seventh Doctor and sauntered to his TARDIS with a relaxed, calculating demeanour and closed the door. Now only the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors were left.

"Well goodbye," said the Tenth Doctor holding out his hand. Before the Eleventh could shake it, the TARDIS materialised again and a man wearing the Eighth Doctor's clothes appeared. He had long black hair which hid his ears and kept falling in his eyes.

"Glad I didn't regenerate in vain," he said grinning, "Just came to drop off the pieces of scrap metal that used to be a murderous robot with a Kaled mutant inside it. I don't want a Dalek in my TARDIS."

"Well I don't want one in mine either," said the Eleventh Doctor in disgust, "I've only ever met one nice Dalek since I regenerated."

"I'll take the pieces," said the Tenth Doctor.

"Thanks," grunted the Ninth Doctor, "Well, I'll see you, although not with this face. I'll look at you in the mirror sometime. Speaking of which, I wonder where the mirror in the TARDIS has gone. I won't be able to look at my new regeneration until I find it or another mirror. Ah well; might get a pleasant surprise when I do see myself," he grinned and then pushed his long dark hair out of his eyes, "Oh but I think I need a haircut; this hairs much too long. Honestly why did I have long hair in so many of my other lives?" With that he tossed the pieces of the Dalek out of his TARDIS before disappearing back inside. The TARDIS dematerialised.

"Bye then number, Eleven," said the Tenth Doctor, "I just visited the Ood and was headed back to Earth to stop the Master after what must be at least his third resurrection. That man simply refuses to die."

"Nice meeting you, number, Ten;" said the Eleventh. The Tenth Doctor gathered the pieces of the destroyed Dalek and carried them into the TARDIS. He raised his hand in farewell before closing the door. The TARDIS made the familiar groaning sound as it disappeared. River stepped up beside the Eleventh Doctor.

"I can't believe _none _of your past selves ever bother to put on the brakes," she said in exasperation.

**I want to make it clear that I'm _not_ expecting all eleven Doctor's to return for the 50th anniversary. In fact I don't think it would work on TV since three of the actors are dead and all of the Classic Series Doctor's, with the possible exception of Paul McGann, are too old to play the role anymore. However since this is just a fanfiction, and the chances of it being like the 50th anniversary special episode are extremely slim I figured, why not? There are people out there who want all eleven Doctor's to return, but since I doubt it would work well on TV, someone might as well write a fanfic about it. Plus River has complained about the Doctor not putting on the brakes before in The Time of Angels, and I wanted to give her a chance to complain that all of his incarnations are as bad as each other when it comes to landing the TARDIS. I did consider only doing Doctor's eight to eleven, which I think is the best way to do it if any previous Doctor's get brought back on TV, but in the end that last line caused me to cram all of them in. I hope this chapter was successful; I have a vague idea (only very vague mind you since this is nowhere near as important as the actual anniversary special) of the kind of panic Steven Moffat must be feeling as he writes the 50th anniversary episode or episodes.**

**You might think that simply erasing the Doctor's memories of his name is too easy, but don't forget that most of the last few series have been about memories; the Silence's ability to erase memories, the Doctor causing almost the whole Universe to forget he'd ever existed and Clara's most well-known quote "Run you clever boy…and remember". As for why all the Doctor's before the Eighth had to forget their name, they are all the same man and I'm trying to show that by having the Time Lock recognise them saying, or even subconsciously thinking, although that only maintains the link after it's been created by actually speaking, their true name from any of their incarnations. Since the Eighth Doctor was so close to regenerating into the Ninth, erasing his memory erased the Ninths at the same time. Once River whispered the name in Eight's ear, only his successor's remembered it, which is my attempt to explain why none of the previous Doctor's ever mentioned their name even before the Time War.**

**Try and guess why I gave the Ninth Doctor long hair. This was the hardest chapter to write since I have only very briefly seen Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy, just after Peter Davison's regeneration scene for Baker and in the first few scenes of the Doctor Who movie for McCoy, and I haven't seen Jon Pertwee at all yet, so I hope I portrayed their Doctors right.**


	10. Chapter 10

"You know sweetie," said River as she, the Doctor, Clara, Jack and Canton sat in the TARDIS, "You told me about the prophecy and I'm pretty sure it said "fall of the Eleventh" somewhere in it. I always assumed that would mean your regeneration."

"Well I did fall over when the Master tackled me during the battle didn't I?" said the Doctor, "And I fell far enough in love to risk the safety of the entire Universe."

"I'm very flattered sweetie," said River.

"I wasn't just talking about you River," the Doctor said, looking at Clara, Jack and Canton.

"Very flattering Doctor but I'm married," Canton grunted.

"Oh my god, are you actually returning my feelings for you?" Jack asked beaming. The Doctor snorted.

"Keep dreaming Jack and I know you're married Canton," he said, "Plus, believe it or not, I have never been gay in all of my eleven lives. If you're going to make a move, wait until I've regenerated into a gay or bisexual incarnation," he then looked at Clara.

"Wait a minute," said River suspiciously, "Doctor, have you been cheating on me?"

"No but I've got two hearts River," said the Doctor, "Therefore I have more than enough love for two people."

"And what about me?" asked Jack looking disappointed.

"Well I've been trying to shake you off for centuries haven't I?" the Doctor teased.

"Hold on," Clara said, "We never...did anything Doctor. We haven't been having an affair."

"No but you kissed me in your Victorian life," said the Doctor, "And I blushed. And I didn't tell you I'm married," he looked guiltily at River who folded her arms and glared at him.

"Are you in love with me?" asked Clara looking genuinely shocked. The Doctor hesitated. River looked between the two of them and then sighed and turned away.

"Well I suppose I should have expected this," she said, "The Lonely God is comforted by someone who is not his wife while the wife leaves him to grieve."

"I still do love you River," the Doctor insisted, "But like I said; I have more than enough room for two people in my hearts."

"Think you can make room for a third?" asked Jack.

"Shut up Jack," the Doctor snapped and looked at his wife, "Look River, Clara was there for me and you weren't. What did you expect? That you could just waltz back into my life after leaving me to my misery and think that nothing's changed?" River turned to face him.

"Our relationship is always changing sweetie," she said, "And you're right; I did abandon you. I should have known you would go into the arms of another woman after the way I acted. And I don't blame you," she sighed, "I'm getting old Doctor; I thought I could reverse the aging process after my regeneration but it just didn't work; I've got too much Human in me. I'm not surprised you've lost interest."

"I haven't lost interest," the Doctor said, "Come here you," he hugged her, letting her know that he still loved her. River hesitated and then hugged him back. It wasn't something they did often.

"So the prophecy was wrong about the fall of the Eleventh?" River said as she broke the Doctor's embrace.

"No, people misinterpreted or exaggerated it," said the Doctor, "That happens a lot with prophecies." He looked at River seriously, "Are you alright? About my feelings for Clara I mean?"

"Well I've flirted and slept with more men than I care to remember," said River, "So I suppose it would be hypocritical to get angry with you. Just don't forget about me Doctor," her voice trembled as she said that. The Doctor looked at her and smiled.

"Never," he said and kissed the top of her head and he meant it. He would never forget River Song, even though the last time she would ever see him, he wouldn't even recognise her. Then he frowned, "You've slept with other men?"

"You told me that was actually quite common for Time Lady's," said River, "When one lives for so long they might get bored with one partner; it's almost a tradition for Time Lord's to sleep with other people."

"You're more Human than Time Lady," the Doctor pointed out, "And you're life span's far shorter than the maximum life span of a full Time Lord."

"Well then I guess I'm a bad girl," River said, "That's why you love me."

"Oh yeah I have told you that before haven't I?" the Doctor muttered and then shrugged, "Oh well; Time Lords are fine with people having affairs, it's actually quite common for us, so I'm not sure why it bothered me."

"Maybe you've spent too much time around Humans," Canton suggested.

"Maybe," the Doctor said, "Can't help it though."

"You know if Clara's going to be your next wife or lover," River said, "I think she has a right to know who you really are." She went over to Clara and whispered the Doctor's real name into her ear.

"What about me?" Jack asked. River looked at the immortal man and then back at the Doctor who rolled his eyes.

"Oh alright," he said, "But I want you to keep it a secret Jack; I might be the only one who can open the Time Lock with my name but I've still got my reputation as a mysterious Time Traveller to consider."

"You don't _have _much of a reputation since you erased yourself from the Universe," pointed out River and the Doctor rolled his eyes.

"Alright, alright," he said, "It's just I've kept it secret for so long that I don't want it to be blabbed around the Universe. I want you lot to keep it between yourselves."

"I can keep a secret," Jack said and smiled.

"What about when you're drunk?" the Doctor asked.

"I'm usually too busy having sex to bother with secrets when I'm drunk," Jack's smile turned into a smirk.

"Too much information," the Doctor said uncomfortably, "Alright River tell, him my name." River stepped towards the immortal man and whispered the name into Jack's ear. She then looked at Canton and back at the Doctor.

"I'm a member of the FBI so I was born to keep secrets," Canton said, "I was reinstated after that adventure we had against the Judoon."

"Oh yeah," the Doctor smiled, "That was when I was on my farewell tour before the Silence got River to try and kill me at Lake Silencio. Alright River, tell Canton too; FBI agents can keep secrets." River obeyed and this time spoke the name out loud, since everyone in the TARDIS now knew it. It was not a particularly long name and it although it was clearly alien, it didn't sound particularly powerful or dangerous.

* * *

"So where are we going now?" asked Clara after Jack, Canton and River had left the TARDIS. The Doctor looked over at her and smiled.

"Nowhere," he said and stepped towards her, "River's given us her blessing Clara."

"Are you serious?" asked Clara, "I mean, we flirt at times but...I always thought it was just playful banter."

"Well what if that playful banter turned into something more serious?" asked the Doctor.

"I don't know," said Clara hesitantly, "It doesn't feel right; River's your wife Doctor."

"Time Lord, marriage is not like Human marriage Clara," the Doctor told her, "Sometimes we go for centuries without seeing our wives. Some Time Lords have even had more than one wife at a time."

"Are you proposing?" Clara asked.

"No," the Doctor said, "I'm just saying that in my culture, Time Lord's often have more than one partner at a time. And I don't see River very often. Also...I think our time together will be ending soon."

"Why?" asked Clara.

"I saw her die the day I met her," the Doctor said sadly, "We've known each other for so long Clara, but I don't think it will last much longer. Someday I'll have to take River to Darrilium, knowing that she will go to the Library and die after meeting a version of me that doesn't even know her."

"What if..." Clara hesitated, "Doctor I don't feel right about it; I understand that your Time Lord customs are different but I'm Human. I can't; not until..." she swallowed and looked at him almost guiltily.

"Until I finish my relationship with River?" the Doctor finished. Clara nodded and the Doctor smiled sadly, "Well, you might have to wait a while; I still do love her Clara."

"I know," Clara said, "And I don't want to ruin that. You have such a long lifespan Doctor; I won't be around to see the end of it; at least not this version of me unless we're both extremely unlucky. But there might be other incarnations of me out there in the Universe thanks to the Master. If I die before you end, your relationship with River, you could always find one of my other incarnations scattered out there."

"It wouldn't be the same," the Doctor said, "And I don't know for sure if you actually have any other incarnations. Besides you said you didn't want me to go looking for another version of you so I'm not going to go looking for one of your other incarnations when you die. If I run into them accidentally, that's different. Each of your incarnations is slightly different Clara; when I first met you in the Dalek Asylum you were cocky and always trying to outsmart me...and succeeding." Clara smirked at his confession and the Doctor shot her a mildly annoyed look before continuing, "And then you in Victorian London gave me a great big kiss in the middle of an adventure, shortly before you got killed. It was a nice kiss but the timing wasn't great. You were too forward; I wasn't ready for it. But this you is, perfect. You don't push too hard but you're always eager for adventure; you care about life, but you'll fight when you have to; you've accepted me even when I've been miserable and bad tempered from losing Amy and Rory and you flirt but you don't kiss me when I'm not ready for it."

"I haven't kissed you at all," Clara reminded him, "Not in this life."

"Exactly," the Doctor responded, "Until now I wasn't ready for it. But now I am. I love you Clara Oswin Oswald."

"That's very sweet Doctor but for now let's just settle with being friends," Clara said, "Now I want you to show me a Star Whale." The Doctor smiled, remembering his second adventure with Amy had been on the back, and in the mouth, of a Star Whale and hurried to the console, to take them to their next destination.

"Star Whale it is," he said. While he worked at the console, Clara stepped up beside him, hesitated, and then gave him a kiss on the cheek. It wasn't enough to break her rule of never cheating or causing someone else to cheat, but it did show the Doctor that she would return his feelings when they were both ready.

"Just so you know, I love you too," she said as the TARDIS took off into the Time Vortex.

**It might be a bit sudden to suggest romance here but I would quite like it if Clara and the Doctor got into a romantic relationship. I think it would work better since Matt Smith is only four years older than Jenna-Louise Coleman while Alex Kingston is two decades older than Matt. Also Jenna-Louise is far more beautiful than Alex although she does have the advantage of being half her age and I have to admit that, for a woman who is as old as Doctor Who itself, Kingston's reasonably good looking.**

**I confess I was disappointed that I only got one review in the last chapter but thank you to vmcvey97 for writing that review. I don't know how well I portrayed the previous Doctor's; the only ones I feel fairly confident that I wrote right were the Eleventh, Tenth and Ninth because they are the ones I am most familiar with.**


	11. Chapter 11

"Hi, honey I'm home!" said the Doctor appearing on River's doorstep in his tuxedo and top hat, even flourishing his Sonic Cane as a memento of their 'first date', in Berlin all those years ago.

"And what sort of time do you call this?" River asked and then hugged him, "It's good to see you again sweetie. How's Clara?"

"She's in bed," the Doctor said, "And no I haven't been sleeping with her River; she won't let me."

"Maybe she's worried you wouldn't have enough energy left to satisfy me," River said winking flirtatiously.

"Oh you're still a bad girl after all these years," the Doctor said tapping her affectionately on the nose, "But I'm going to take you somewhere. You know you've always wanted to go to Darrilium? Well tonight is the night Professor Song!" River beamed at him.

"Well it's about bloody time," she said, "Hold on a moment sweetie," she disappeared back inside the house. When she returned she was wearing a green dress. The Doctor smiled.

"You look lovely," he said and took her hand, "Alright my wife; time to take you to see the Singing Towers."

* * *

"How was it?" Clara asked when the Doctor stepped into the TARDIS and put his head on the door.

"It was wonderful and upsetting at the same time," the Doctor said sadly, "Even the sex made me sad. It reminded me that I'll never do it with her again. Fortunately she's very good at it," the Doctor turned and looked at Clara, who was unbothered by him talking about his and River's sex life. He'd been crying but he managed a small smile, "Good job on that Sonic Screwdriver by the way." Clara smiled.

"I learned from the best," she said and then went towards him, "Are you okay?"

"No," the Doctor said, "My wife's about to go to her death," he strode past Clara. She didn't say anything just watched him standing by the console, "I'm going to miss her," he said. Clara wasn't sure if he was talking to her, the TARDIS or himself.

"Maybe you should get some sleep Doctor," Clara suggested gently, "You're going to need time to recover." The Doctor choked on a laugh.

"You'd think I have all the time in the Universe," he said stroking the console of the TARDIS.

"Even Time Lord's aren't immune to the passing of time," Clara said, "Actually I think it affects you more than most other living beings."

"I know," the Doctor said, "And I can't just suffer the loss of one lover and then skip to the next as though nothing's happened."

"I know," Clara said, "I wouldn't expect you to." She put a hand on his shoulder, "River gave us her blessing Doctor, but I understand that you don't feel ready to try anything just yet. Give yourself all the time you need," she walked past the Doctor and disappeared further into the TARDIS.

"Am I dishonouring River's memory old girl?" the Doctor asked the Time Machine. The TARDIS made a soothing noise, "Yeah I know. I knew I'd have to let River go eventually; she told me so all those years ago when I met her in the Library. But should I have waited longer?" The TARDIS made another soothing noise and the Doctor smiled, "You always know what to say Sexy," he said, "Even though you can't actually talk; makes me miss having you in a Human body." The TARDIS made a noise that might have been a chuckle as she remembered the time she had been transferred into the body of a Human.

The Doctor smiled and moved around the console of his beloved Time Machine, flicking switches, pressing buttons and setting a course for nowhere in particular. The loss of River was still fresh in his mind. Clara had been incredibly patient with him; it had been three years since River had whispered his true name into her ear, but she never tried to push him to end his relationship with his wife. She was one of the best companions the Doctor had ever had, and that was saying something considering his massive twelve hundred and eighteen year life span.

"So, Sexy," the Doctor said to the TARDIS, "Next stop everywhere," he smiled and pulled a lever. The TARDIS made a purring noise and then, more gently than usual, entered the Time Vortex to take the Doctor and Clara on their next adventure.


End file.
